Southerner ashamed of Confederacy

By Editor, The Chronicle

I congratulate the Georgia Legislature and Gov. Roy Barnes for their courage and leadership in giving us a beautiful new Georgia flag. In 1956 our flag changed as a defiant act against the civil rights movement.

The people of Georgia did not vote for that change and it is only fitting that we did not vote on the current change. This reminds me of the old proverb, "What goes around comes around."

When discussing the flag, a lot of people bring up their Southern heritage. Well, as one who was born and raised in the South, I am also proud of my Southern heritage. This heritage includes an easygoing lifestyle with polite, caring and loving people who love God and country.

But, I am ashamed of anything associated with the Confederacy, including the Civil War, which was the most unnecessary waste of human life in the history of our nation. The South was on the wrong side of that war and we should thank God the Confederacy lost.

I abhor the way my forefathers treated black Americans, including slavery, lynchings, separation of the races and treating my black brothers and sisters in Christ as if they had no soul.

Sadly, racial prejudice is still alive and well. The only difference is that prejudice has now become very sophisticated and has moved from the inner city to the lily-white suburbs.

Yes, I detest everything the Confederate flag stands for because I am an American, not a Confederate American.